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Henry Sowell

Vol. I · Est. 2026

Pl. CXLV
Field-journal plate: Reddish Egret
The Reddish Egret plate as rendered on the e-ink frame
As rendered on the frame

The Birds · Plate CXLV

Reddish Egret

Egretta rufescens

Ardeidae · Taxon 4948

Length70–80 cm (27.6–31.5 in)
Wingspan115–118 cm (45.3–46.5 in)
Weight700–850 g (24.7–30.0 oz)

Field marks

  1. Long neck, sturdy blue-gray legs, broad wings, and a short tail
  2. Conspicuously shaggy head and neck plumes
  3. Dark morph has a slate-gray body with a rusty cinnamon head and neck
  4. White morph is entirely white
  5. Heavy, straight, daggerlike bill; breeding adults show a pink base and black tip
  6. Pale yellow eye, with blue to violet facial skin most evident in breeding plumage

HabitatShallow coastal wetlands, especially tidal flats, salt marshes, lagoons, protected bays and estuaries, salt pans, mangrove flats, and barrier-island shores; occasional freshwater ponds. Nests colonially in mangroves, shrubs, low beach vegetation, or on the ground.

BehaviorAn animated shallow-water hunter that runs, pivots, leaps, stirs sediment with its feet, and spreads or canopies its wings to shade, startle, and herd small fish. Usually forages alone but may join mixed feeding groups.

Palette

rusty cinnamonslate gray-bluecoral pinkblackwhite